The assembly lines functioned on a gigantic scale and turned out the famed Liberty Ship. The first was just 440 feet long with a capacity of 8,500 tons, and it launched soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Before long Kaiser's shipyards could turn out a Liberty Ship in a month, then in 10 days, then in less than five days-a good thing since enemy submarines sank 12 million tons of shipping in 1942, a year when the shipyards in the United States produced 11 million tons. Pictured at lower right, Kaiser's productivity won him the sobriquet, "Sir Launchesalot." (Note the flags of both Great Britain and the United States, and the triumphant "10 Days" sign between them.) By the war's end the companies in which Utah Construction held a substantial interest had built hundreds of ships, worth billions of dollars, for both the British and the United States Navies and for the U.S. Maritime Commission. Courtesy of National Archives